Pollination plays a vital role in maintaining ecological functioning of ecosystems, and bees are the main pollinating insects in natural and agricultural areas. Identification of bee food sources can be carried out directly by observing their visits to flowers, or indirectly by analyzing the pollen they carry. Pollen analysis is employed to determine the breadth of the bees’ dietary niche and understand the relationship between flower traits, pollen grains, and floral resources. While Exomalopsis females were previously recorded as pollinators of Solanaceae species, information regarding their trophic niche in agricultural areas remains limited but is essential for the management of these wild pollinators. In this study we accessed the floral resources used by two Exomalopsis species (E. analis and E. auropilosa) through pollen analysis in their scopae, using cultivated Capsicum cultivars (Solanaceae) as target plants. Pollen samples from 56 Exomalopsis females (21 from E. analis and 35 from E. auropilosa) revealed 58 pollen types belonging to 24 botanical families, with the highest values found for Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Euphorbiaceae, and Rubiaceae. E. auropilosa showed greater pollen type richness (46) with 3–10 types per bee, while E. analis had 43 types with 3–13 types per individual. Capsicum, a pollen, and nectar source constituted approximately 77% of the pollen loads. Most of other plant species identified were arboreal and provided nectar to these pollinators. Trophic niche overlap between Exomalopsis species was low. The conservation of wildflowers surrounding pepper cultivations is essential for maintaining these two important pollinators in agricultural areas. Additionally, areas with bare soil can contribute to the persistence of Exomalopsis populations.

授粉对于维持生态系统的生态功能起着至关重要的作用，蜜蜂是自然和农业领域的主要授粉昆虫。蜜蜂食物来源的识别可以通过观察它们对花朵的访问来直接进行，也可以通过分析它们携带的花粉来间接进行。花粉分析用于确定蜜蜂饮食生态位的广度，并了解花性状、花粉粒和花卉资源之间的关系。虽然Exomalopsis雌性以前被记录为茄科物种的传粉者，但有关其在农业地区营养位的信息仍然有限，但对于这些野生传粉者的管理至关重要。在这项研究中，我们使用栽培的辣椒品种（茄科）作为目标植物，通过对两种Exomalopsis物种（E. analis和E. auropilosa ）的花粉分析来获取其所使用的花卉资源。 56 只Exomalopsis雌性（21 只来自E. analis，35 只来自E. auropilosa ）的花粉样本揭示了属于 24 个植物科的 58 种花粉类型，其中豆科、菊科、大戟科和茜草科的花粉值最高。E. auropilosa显示出更高的花粉类型丰富度 (46)，每只蜜蜂有 3-10 种类型，而E. analis有 43 种类型，每只蜜蜂有 3-13 种类型。辣椒、花粉和花蜜源约占花粉量的 77%。大多数已确定的其他植物物种都是树栖植物，为这些传粉媒介提供花蜜。Exomalopsis物种之间的营养生态位重叠度较低。保护辣椒种植周围的野花对于维持农业地区这两种重要的传粉媒介至关重要。此外，裸露土壤的地区可能有助于Exomalopsis种群的持续存在。